Oedipus the King: Quest for self‐knowledge – denial of reality. Sophocles’ vision of man and psychoanalytic concept formation

Abstract

In the Oedipus myth we find a dramatic representation of the child's passionate ties to its parents. In the play Oedipus the King, Sophocles relates the theme of the myth to the question of self-knowledge. This was the predominant reading in German 19th century thinking, and even as a student Freud was fascinated by Oedipus' character - not primarily as the protagonist of an oedipal drama, but as the solver of divine riddles and as an individual striving for self-knowledge. Inspired by Vellacott, Steiner has proposed an alternative reading of Oedipus the King as a play about a cover-up of the truth. The text supports both these arguments. The pivotal theme of the tragedy is Oedipus' conflict between his desire to know himself and his opposing wish to cover up the truth that will bring disaster. It is this complex character of Oedipus and the intensity of his conflict-ridden struggle for self-knowledge that has made the tragedy to a rich source of inspiration for psychoanalytic concept formation and understanding both of emotional and cognitive development up to our own time.

Stray thoughts – seeking home: Henrik Ibsen'sPeer Gyntread in light of Wilfred Bion's ideas

“…He becomes like Tiresias, the blind seer. This sequence points to a complex relationship between blindness, self‐knowledge and hidden truth, examined with respect to psychoanalysis by Zachrisson ().…”

Illusion, Disillusion, and Irony in Psychoanalysis

“…This time it is Oedipus who pursues the 1 Other analysts have recognized the importance of The Wild Duck in understanding the complex relationship we have with reality. Anthi (1990), Killingmo (1994), and Szalita (1970-1971 have contributed interesting papers on the play's relevance to psychoanalysis, and Zachrisson (2013) explored the search for truth and the need for illusion in both The Wild Duck (Ibsen 1884) and Oedipus the King (Sophocles, 5th century BC, a).…”

The Erotics of Knowing: A Neglected Contribution to Analytic Erotism

“…Yet the riddle of the Sphinx, which concerns the cycle of life—what happens to babies after they are born—is hardly the same riddle of “where babies come from,” which concerns what happens before babies are born—in other words, sex between mother and father. It is hard to believe this is the same Freud who identified the oedipus complex, and who knew full well that by solving the riddle of the Sphinx, Oedipus unlocked the door to enacting the forbidden—the foretold knowledge of which he will reject over and over until he is forced to confront the answer to “where baby Oedipus came from,” in spite of his best efforts not to (Zachrisson 2013). Freud’s interpreting the riddle of “where babies come from” as the “same” as the riddle of the Sphinx desexualizes it; yet in making this link, he adumbrates the impending unfolding of the oedipal narrative—in life, just as in myth.…”